Desert warfare

[citation needed] The barrenness of the desert makes the capture of key cities essential to ensure the ability to maintain control over important resources, primarily clean water, and being able to keep a military well supplied.As such, that makes sieges in conventional warfare more frequent, as the defender often prepares entrenched positions to protect the cities that supply them.[1] Militaries often make use of cavalry to cross the large expanses of a harsh desert without increasing the exertion of the soldiers, who are already at a higher risk of dehydration because of the high temperatures during the day.[citation needed] In the context of guerilla warfare, the wide expanses of deserts can make it more difficult for large forces to defend their supply lines.[2] In desert warfare, an individual's body temperature can reach unusual highs causing fever-like weakness and dehydration.

French Army combat vehicles in the deserts of Iraq during the Gulf War

Bedouin camel cavalry of the Ikhwan army in the Arabian Peninsula , c. 1911

Australians driving Universal Carriers across dunes towards Bardia , Libya, January 1941

British SAS patrol in armed jeeps during the North African campaign of World War II

British and American soldiers wearing Desert Battle Dress Uniform during the Gulf War

New Zealand members of the Long Range Desert Group in North Africa

Indian transport raiders searching for enemy targets during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II

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